A Grimm Fate
by IWEYC
Summary: Hybrids - half human, half grimm. Never before seen to man, until one day. Framed when someone had attacked Ruby, betrayed by his friends, handed over to the White Fang. It all came down to what they had in mind for him, and it wasn't pretty. Injecting him with grimm dna, he was forced to live with the very manifestation of people's nightmares within his soul.
1. Chapter 1

**I DON'T OWN RWBY**

 **Nor do I own the story's backround, that honor goes to Jauneforever's 'Precipe of Madness.'**

 **Note: Mild amounts of swearing - something I don't normally do.**

* * *

Ragged breaths.

That was all he could do at the moment, dragged across the cold floor to a places unknown - and quite frankly, he didn't care where. He _knew_ wherever he was placed promised loads of pain.

He knew he couldn't exactly blame the people that put him here - the White fang sure, they could be blamed without logical reason, but for his _friends_ to work in tandem with the _White Fang_ without so much as a second thought? That was just half-assed bullshit.

Sure, he would've been downright furious if someone had attacked Ruby like that dark haired bitch did, but he wouldn't just go out on a limb because his sword was in her gut...even if that implied many things.

He had been framed, a nice walk around the park had turned into a multitude of trouble for the two - and more specifically, Jaune.

His train of thought came to a halt when his back suddenly made an impact with something metal, most likely a chair.

His blindfold didn't come off, but he knew his hands were getting tied to the back of the chair, and his feet tied to the legs of the chair - if the ropes were any indication.

Low murmers, and then something could be heard powering on, he shuddered. He really didn't want to know what was going to be done to him.

He heard footsteps, the sound of feet padding on the ground coming closer and closer - only for it to stop abruptly. He felt hands tie something around his mouth, like a gag. Only for something to slam into his arms, the only thing keeping him frim screaming was the makeshift gag in his mouth.

The fuck was that?

He didn't have any time to think about it further as the... _thing_ twisted, grinding itself into his flesh - well, not by itself, you get what he meant.

He was hoping - no, praying, to anybody out there, that these people would just end him quick. He figured the only reason he had even been kidnapped was to make a statement, something to make the public more afraid and respectful - in a bad way - of the White Fang.

Right?

His blindfold was harshly ripped from his head, snapping back against his tearing eyes. He took one look around and found that he had been taken to some sort of warehouse, electronic things littered everywhere around the room. Two wires had been connected to his right and left arms, thin wires mind you, but the thing connecting the two...not so much.

"So," he heard a burly voice call out, he jerked his head to the left ever so slightly and was met with a faunus wearing a mask, holding a syringe in a threatening manner, "We conviced your idiot 'friends' that you were the person that attacked that little red girl."

He tried to give a harsh glare to the man, but grimaced as he twisted the wires even deeper.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you it was rude to stare?" the faunus mocked.

Jaune held back any response.

"Do you know what this is?" the faunus asked rhetorically, " _This_ , is a syringe filled with grimm dna."

His eyes widened, shit were they going to force that inside of him!?

The faunus laughed maniacally, "Yes, the other wire is also connected to another syrince filled with grimm dna - a different grimm, but grimm dna nontheless. Since your...'friends' kindly offered you to us, we took it upon ourselves to make you our personal...ah... _tester_ , of sorts."

The way he said it made Jaune want to throw up, how could someone enjoy seeing a person tortured? Just laugh it off and make sarcastic comments the whole time.

"Now, this may feel bad at first, but trust me." he jabbed the syringe in unision with the other faunus, "It'll only get worse.

The black liquid was getting closer and closer to his arms, he panicked.

It made contact with his skin.

The black liquid forced itself inside his body, coursing through his veins, merging with his blood. His bones hardened and shifted, a Death Stalker exoskeleton making it's way onto his body, an armor made of grimm bone. His hands changed, nails to claws, skin to fur, beowolf paws - Alpha beowolf paws - with a white outlining.

He heard the door close somewhere behind him, and he couldn't help himself - turned into something so gruesome, something feared by humanity everyday - he cried.

But, his body shifted back to normal, it was an agonizing process, but it eventually went back into a human form. Yet, it still felt... _different_ , like there was something else added into his body.

He felt curious, and tried something. Willing his hand to turn into a beowolf paw, it obliged, fur overtaking his skin yet again, claws replacing his nails.

Something sank in at that moment, not even 5 minutes in this damn place...and they had made him a monster, and he _knew_ it would never get any better from there.

* * *

3 months.

That's how long it took for Ruby Rose to come back into the world of the living, her consciousness slowly coming back, she was met with the sight of all 6 of her friends.

Wait... _6_?

Yang caught her sister in a bear hug, as did the rest of her team - surprisingly Blake and Weiss felt the urge to do it as well, yet she didn't care to notice it right now. First she needed water, he throat was so dry she couldn't form any words.

Though, Yang seemed to know what Ruby was thinking at the moment, and went out of the group hug to hand Ruby a bottle of water.

She gulped the whole thing down rather quickly and let out a breath, sighing in content before steeling herself, "Guys, where's Jaune?"

The six eyed her curiously, "You mean, you don't remember?" Yang asked.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "What? Of course I remember. Some woman with black hair, a red combat dress, and orange eyes took out Jaune while he tried to protect me, and she used Crocea Mors against me." Why she did that, Ruby would never know, "Wait, is Jaune ok!?"

A moment of silence overtook them, the six uninjured members frozen in place, hearts stopped.

Pyhha ran out of the room crying, and Nora and Ren chased after her.

Ruby's heart beat faster ever so slightly, "Uhm, guys...Jaune _is_ ok, right?" she asked hesitantly.

"You-" Weiss's breath hitched in her throat, "You mean to tell us that Jaune wasn't the one that attacked you?"

Ruby's eyes widened, "What!? No! He would never do anything like that!" she shouted.

The girls of (R)WBY took a step back, shaking slightly and letting out a gasp. "Jaune...didn't do it?" Yang repeated, as if she didn't believe those words.

"God no! You guys know Jaune better then that!" Ruby reprimanded.

Wait.

If they thought he did it...and he's not here right now...does that mean they-?

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?" she shrieked.

The girls opposite of her started to tear up, Ruby would absolutely _kill_ them if she found out, he was her first friend - her best friend really - and she had a _huge_ crush on the boy, and even that wouldn't be doing it justice. He was like the brother she never had, if Yang wasn't there to support her, Jaune was always the one to be there.

"We...handed him over to the...White Fang. Blake whispered, more to herself then anything, but it was just loud enough for Ruby to hear. Her heart stopped, she held her breath in, "You...handed him over to the White Fang."

She took slow breaths, in, and out. Her fists were clenched on her blanket, her knuckles slowly turning white.

Though, she couldn't stop herself, something inside her shattered that day. She let out a mighty roar and nothing but silver engulfed her tiny form.

* * *

2 months.

That's how long Jaune had to survive this pain filled torture. He had been right, it just kept on getting worse from that very first day he turned into a grimm/human hybrid.

There had been so many tests.

Nothing but tests every single day. Wether it be a test of physical endurance - by stabbing the shit out of his bone plated chestplate - or a mental test, showing him happy images of his past only to crush them by giving him some wierd serum, making said memories more like nightmares.

He really had just given up after the first month, there honestly was nothing anyone could do at this point. If they went to go get him they probably would've done so by now - that little group of whores were probably feeding Ruby lies, he wouldn't put it past them.

This hour was what he liked to call his 'get your shit together before they stab you' hour, a time where he gets the tiniest of breaks so he doesn't die while he's in the middle of getting tortured. That may seem like a good thing, but trust him, it wasn't - he'd much rather die then go through something like this.

But sadly, the White Fang had other plans in stock for him, the only way he would die was if they somehow ran out of things to test on him, and even then they probably wouldn't kill him. They'd probably just ditch him here and make him stay here until either A: someone found him, or B: He would stay here forever.

Now, you may have been wondering, why hadn't he tried to use his grimm powers to escape - he had nothing better to do so he figured he should just explain things to the voices in his head, which could very likely be real.

Wires had been attached to him, which in turn, were attached to one of the many machines in this room - said machine being able to absorb anything related to aura. Transforming into a grimm had essentially been created into a second semblance, the grimm blood mixing with the human blood made for some sort of clone of his aura.

It made it so that one side of him was pure, while the other was dark and negative. Which granted him sort of split personalities - though, the former was long gone, sealed away into the dark pits of fuck knows where. He had been broken by this shit long ago, so the only power he could activate was the dark side of his aura, which the machine collected and stored for later use.

And no, he couldn't fill it with too much power like some of those dumb movies, he was already running on fumes everyday. So wasting his dark aura like that would be a stupid move on his part.

He sighed - which honestly, could be counted as a breathless moan of agony. Having lost the use of his vocal cords during the many times he had been subjected to his 'physical endurance' tests. Which quite frankly, were probably just excuses to beat the shit out of him until he couldn't take anymore.

Speaking of which, that happened every time.

 _Every! Fucking! Time!_

These sons of bitches thought it was funny to beat him within an inch of his life almost every single fucking day, and no, that wasn't just a figure of speech. They actually laughed.

 _They fucking laughed like this was the best day of their lives!_

God damn animals.

Now, he never used to have a thing against the faunus, faunuses, fauni, fau-you get what he meant. Though, if he were to ever get out of this god forsaken place alive, he certainly would have a _major_ thing against the faunus, faunuses, faun-nevermind.

 ** _Thud!_**

He jerked his head up so fast, it was surprising he was even able to go at such speeds considering his current state.

A noise.

Someing other then the endless blabbering of White Fang grunts, something other then the mechanical sounds of the machinery, and somethinf other then the evil laughter of his pain inducers.

Could it really be?

Could someone other then the White Fang have come to this place.

He didn't want to get his hopes up, though. That just made for something bigger and better to be kicked back down into the dirt.

He heard another thud - the sound of bodies hitting the ground.

Yep.

Someone was definitely here.

His mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly, an actual, real smile.

What a surprise.

What an utterly, pleasant surprise.

Someone had finally come to get him.

* * *

 _Moments earlier_

Ruby sped on towards Jaune's location - having been able to sense aura, among other things, after gaining the ability to use the silver eyed warrior's powers.

Apparently the White Fang had been holding him at a warehouse a bit far from society, not a surprise really, seeing as whatever they would do to him would probably make some people curious and feel the urge to take a look.

She shuddered, the things they did to him were probably worse than she could have ever imagined.

The members of WBY and NPR weren't far behind, lagging only because of the fact that Ruby had been using her semblance the entire time. As she got closer, however, she could feel that something was off with Jaune's aura.

It was almost fully depleted, she figured as much. The one thing she didn't account for, though, was the way his aura _felt_ \- like it wasn't pure. Naturally, aura was the manifestation of one's soul, in that regard, aura could essentially define who a person was. In this case, Jaune's would be a bright white, due to his chivalrous and his all out nice attitude.

But going through whatever the White Fang had in stock probably changed him. She could see that happening, but what was even more disturbing, was the fact that she could feel two sides to his aura.

They were both still Jaune's she _knew_ that, but it felt like they were different from eachother, yet the same all in all. One was happy and nice - one that she could barely sense - and the other was dark and negative.

She skidded to a halt behind one of the bushes in front of the warehouse, peeking through the leaves to see a few grunts gaurding the door.

The other six came next to her after a few seconds. She wasn't exactly on speaking terms with them - far from it. But, she had to work with them for now, if she wanted to get to Jaune as quickly and efficiently as possible.

She reached into one of the pockets of her skirt and pulled out a clip full of silent dust bullets. Unfurling Crescent Rose with extreme caution, the loaded the clip in and aimed with her weapon in sniper mode.

She aimed the crosshair at one of the grunt's heads, something she _really_ didn't want to do.

Though, if it got Jaune out of there, she figured it was worth it.

She pulled the trigger and the bullet silently struck it's target, causing the grunt to fall helplessly to the ground with a thud.

One down.

She aimed at the second grunt moving to check on the first, the crosshair slowly making it's way towards his head. She pulled the trigger, and the bullet passed through his head, a grueling sight, yet a necessary one.

Two down.

"That's the last of them." she informed the rest of the group.

She didn't even bother waiting for their responses, for she was already running towards the entrance - quiet steps, but running nontheless.

Her thoughts racing almost as fast as her actual speed, she quickly made her way over to the door and slashed over the lock - having transformed Crescent Rose into it's sycthe form while running.

The doors burst open, and she was met with the sight of machines, machines littered everywhere from right to left, blinking lights and mechanical noises. She payed them no heed, and only looked to the center of it all, where one chair lay, and one boy sat. A very specific boy - one that she had come all this way to save.

Jaune's gaze met Ruby's, and she was able to see his lifeless eyes, the eyes of someone ready to quit, the eyes of someone without anything left. Though, she was able to see the tiniest flick, the smallest spark of hope that her just coming here ingited within him. That moment, his aura surged back up, not only the dark part of it, but the part that thrived in light was visible as well.

Her eyes swelled as she dashed over to the chair, quickly looking over his battered and bruised form, the amount of grueling scars was scarily breathtaking. But she didn't have time for hesitation as of now, something she had been repeating to herself ever since she started her trek towards here.

"Hey...Ruby...Took you...long enough." he rasped out, a miniscule smile plastered on his face - tiny, but real at least.

She smiled at him, "Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Jaune did his best at trying to let out a chuckle, though it came out as a hoarse cough, "Could you...turn off that...machine over...there?" he asked slowly, nodding his head towards the offending item.

She nodded before running towards the machine and slicing it in two, which effectively released the wires draining away his aura. Ruby sprinted back towards Jaune, and slashes through the rest of his boundings with a few quick and clean cuts.

He fell forwards, all the energy he previously had today had been drained throughout the day. Ruby skillfully caught him and slung his arm over her neck and shoulders. She started running as fast as she could whilst supporting Jaune like this, said boy wincing with each step he took.

Jaune scowled when he saw the people that put him here in the first place behind the bushes, but didn't comment on it seeing the situation he was in as of now.

He heard something rev.

"Shit! Move!" he screeched as he pushed Ruby out of the way, stumbling on his feet while reluctantly mutating into his grimm form. The Death Stalker bone plating covered his chest, arms, and legs like armor, while his hands turned back into beowolf claws. The bone plating reach his head, and his eyes changed to a bright red, fitting perfectly within the eyehole sockets.

Ruby gasped, what...what was that? Was that thing Jaune!? She looked back towards the others and saw them inching away in fear.

Jaune brought his hand up and let his bone plating block the slash of the White Fang lieutenant's chainsaw. He grit his teeth, but otherwise refrained from making the usual snarky remark - this boy was a liability, and he needed to be dealt with. Jaune was faring even worse, his eyes closed tightly as he struggled to keep his arm up.

With a roar, he pushed the chainsaw back, looks like those 'physical endurance' tests actually worked in his favor. In a quick and fluid motion, he cocked both fists back and let out a mighty jab towards his stomach. The blow so strong, it was able send him flying towards the nearest wall.

This however, was enough to alert the grunts near him.

"Oh shit." he murmered to himself.

The grunts ran up to him and attacked. He harshly kicked the knee of one and crippled him, rendering him useless, to which he was able to stick his claws through his chest.

The 6 watched in horror as Jaune was able to kill these faunus without so much as a second though - sure, in the heat of battle everything mattered, but that grunt had already been injured. He could've easily just let him live. Ruby however, was surprisingly calm about this, the White Fang had made him... _this_. So she figured this was what they had deserved.

She knew it was bad, horrible even. But with what Jaune probably had to go through, she felt it was well deserved.

He yanked his claws out and spun on his heel, landing a side kick on another's chest, shattering the grunt's ribs. He plated his foot on the ground and ducked under the swing of one's sword, using the momentum to flip backwards and land a corkscrew kick on another.

"This is getting nowhere!" he said to himself, sinking his claws into another grunt.

He looked around, some way, any way that he could escape through.

His gaze landed in the thick midst of the trees, rolling out of the way of a bullet and launching himself forward, grabbing the attacker's face with his furry palm and forcefully bringing it down to his knee, shattering his teeth and knocking him out. He threw the grunt in the air and landed a spinning back kick on his crotch - because why the fuck not.

"Ruby!" he called out, alerting her attention as he pointed towards his planned escape path. She nodded and barked to the others to get moving, they scrambled up from their place behind the bushes and frantically ran like their life depended on it.

He flipped forwards and kicked down one of the last grunts, but was forced to roll out of the way to avoid a deadly slash at his neck.

He got into a fighting stance at eyed the newest challenger, a faunus with red hair and a grimm mask, a katana held with a firm grip, the msn having a deadly gaze that never left Jaune's eyes. He took one look at the man and Jaune could tell this guy was experienced, the way he held his sword was one good way to tell. All things considered, he really only had one option at the moment.

Run like a fucking coward.

He let out a mighty punch towards the ground, the initial impact creating a crater and shockwave big enough to stun the few that were left for a good amount of seconds. He sprinted as fast as his bone-plated legs could take him, and for good measure, punched down a tree to block them from running towards him.

After a few moments, he heard something slice open and spared a glance back, met with the sight of the man calmly getting up and eyeing his retreating form.

The man would've went after him, Jaune knew the man could probably beat him 7 ways 'till Sunday without so much as a second thought. Even if Jaune had the body of a grimm, that still didn't compensate for his total lack of skill, or at least, compared to the man he was currently running away from.

That made him run even faster then before, while these two months probably shaped him into something terrifying, that man still instilled fear upon him.

Luckily for Jaune, though, he was long gone into the deep leaves of the trees.

* * *

 **AN:Hello! Welcome to the first chapter of 'A grimm fate'!**

 **I know, I really shouldn't be putting out too many stories when I have an uncertain update schedule, I just can't help myself! These - like most of my stories - were initial ideas that never left me, plaguing me in my sleep and causing me to dream about events that could happen in the story. Thus leading to this creation. I got this idea after reading Jauneforever's 'Precipe of Madness', thinking that the backstory was a cool idea, and I hoped I could do it justice in this first chapter. Which I really hope I did.**

 **The hospital scene was pretty rushed, mostly due to the fact that I have never been good at writing dialogue, far from it. Anything I wrote would probably not be incorporated into real life interactions, which is a pretty bad thing in my eyes.**

 **Ruby being OOC is kind of a mistake on my part, I can't find a way to let the story flow without Ruby being able to cope with having Jaune kill the White Fang members. Though, what the White Fang members did to Jaune played a key role with this.**

 **This backstory - like I said - was based off of Jauneforever's 'Precipe of Madness', so if you liked this, then you can go check it out in the crossover archives.**

 **Another thing to note, I wasn't originally planning to give Jaune grimm powers, I got the inspiration from Tehgrammerpolise's 'Learning to Human', which is a pretty great read that you should check out. It essentially came down to me needing more ideas, and him getting grimm dna and all that fit into the story perfectly, so there's that.**

 **Also, don't expect as fast of updates as 'Imitatio', even if those updates are pretty long as well. This is an idea that I came up with on the fly, taking so much as a few days just to think of the first chapter.**

 **Love it? Hate it? Leave a review!**

 **Cya!**


	2. Chapter 2:

**I DON'T OWN RWBY!**

 **"...never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye then, you aren't really gone. You...just aren't here right now."**

 **-RvB [Episode 22] Carolina**

* * *

He woke up in an unfamiliar environment, pillows and bedsheets sprawled out in front of him. Sunlight was present through one of the windows of...wherever he was now.

He faintly remembered the events of - how long was it? A few hours? A day? Maybe even weeks? He didn't know how long he had been asleep, or how he had even gotten here for that matter.

His vision darkening was one of the things he remembered more clearly, but seeing how that was probably him losing consciousness, it was probably a miracle he was still alive. If he recalled correctly, the White Fang had been on his-their, tails.

So who carried him here?

He looked to his right and was met with a tiled floor, white as far as the eye could see. But when he looked to his left, he finally took notice of the certain weight on his stomach, and it just so happened to be a certain Rose huntress.

Her arms were used as cushions on his stomach, one of his own arms unconciously hugging her form closer to his. He blushed a faint shade of pink, but otherwise said nothing.

"Finally awake, are you Jaune?" a voice asked through the door quietly.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he turned to the source of the voice, and through squinted eyes, was able to make out the form of Ozpin, as well as his voice. His cane clicked every few times he took steps towards an empty chair, holding his signature coffee mug with his other hand.

The headmaster sat down on a chair next to the bed and set his coffee mug on the tray next to him. A stoic expression expression on his face.

"Do you remember what happened?" the headmaster questioned, his voice naught but a whisper.

Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but closed it with a wince - when was the last time he had gotten a proper drink?

So he opted to shake his head.

Ozpin abruptly stood up and walked to the minifridge located under the hospital couch, taking out 2 bottles of water. He went back and handed one to Jaune, which he took gratefully and gulped down hungrily. He didn't even have time to give the bottl back before another was thrusted into his hands, replacing the first.

He drank the second one a little bit slower, but was able to drink it faster then normal. With a content sigh, he handed the other bottle back to the headmaster, and he placed them next to his coffee mug lazily.

"Well, I remember Ruby coming to save from the White Fang. Shit happened, some fights here and there, but in the end we were forced to run back. I think I blacked out, and that was the end of that." he explained cooly, but gripped the sheets of his bed a little tighter, hugging Ruby's form just a _tiny_ bit closer.

Ozpin stiffened slightly at the boy's choice of words, but didn't decide to elaborate further on it - no way to change Jaune's language considering what he had went through. Despite that, he still didn't feel comfortable listening to one of his students cuss.

He was going to ask again, but he reluctantly replaced that with something more important to discuss.

"Jaune, I looked over your medical sheets." the boy grimaced.

Of _fucking_ course they did.

Why the _fuck_ should he have expected anything else?

Ozpin eyed the boy warily, an expression foreign on his face, an expression never seen on Ozpin's face for quite some time.

He looked at the boy with hesitation...with _fear_.

Sure, he was technically a half grimm - but for the _headmaster_ of Beacon to be outright _scared_ of Jaune was something he never took into account for. Though, that probably wouldn't change the fact that he would be handed over to either the press, or to detainment seeing as he posed a threat.

He closed his eyes with a another sigh - nothing like the first. It held more emotion then anything he had done for the past few months.

"You already know this, I bet. But..." Jaune trailed off.

Ozpin nodded his head solemnly, not looking his former student of Beacon in the ey, "Yes, I'm fully aware that you're half grimm."

The boy winced, looking at anything other then the headmaster - choosing to look at Ruby's sleeping form, her back going up and down with every breath. He ruffled her hair ever so slighty, and she unnoticeablely snuggled her head into his touch.

His eyes didn't hold sorrow - that would cause people to give him pity. He didn't need some person's half-assed pity, with the occasional worried glances. It made him feel like he was beneath them, and he most certainly wasn't.

His eyes held _understanding._

All that was left though, was the thought to be inevitable news of him being scheduled to be transported to someplace - probably other then here.

 _Thought_ to be inevitable

"But," Ozpin began, causing Jaune to snap his gaze back at the headmaster in surprise, "what happens next is entirely up to you."

Wait...

What?

His mouth hung agape, staring at Ozpin with wide eyes, his brain only slowly comprehending the news that were so _different_ then what he had expected.

"Wha-?" he spoke dumbly.

Ozpin grew the tiniest of smiles, almost invisible to the world around him. "It's up to you - whatever is up next, that is. Do you want to travel the world with a ralse identity, but real hunter license from me?"

"Y-you would do _that_ for me!?" he asked, his voice raising slowly.

" _Or_ ," he continued, ignoring Jaune's last question, "I could hide you from the press for as long as I could within Beacon's walls."

The shock having subsided - albeit very slowly, but it was gone nontheless - he bit his lip in frustration. Both paths had risk, where the latter would leave him on his own if life decided to screw him over six ways 'till Sunsay. The former would let the headmaster and maybe even Ruby help him escape beforehand.

He tried looking at it from a logical standpoint, but quickly deduced that no one would get in trouble because of him - even the _fucktards_ that made him this way in the first place.

Not because he didn't want to see them in jail, oh hell no. He wanted nothing better then for them to suffer like he did.

He just wanted to be the one to do it himself.

He knew that sounded like some stuck-up bitch's revenge plan - but he didn't care, rage slowly took down any feeling of self preservation at this point. Hell, he didn't even have standards for himself, much less care for his pumped up ego.

"Miss Rose." Ozpin called out, snapping him away from his thoughts, "I know you're awake."

Raising an eyebrow, he looked down and saw Ruby with an apologetic expression, silver eyes wide and looking back up at him. His eyebrow stayed raised, and Ruby puffed out a breath, hiding her face and getting in the bed, pulling herself under the blanket.

"It was uncomfortable." she mumbled into his hospital gown.

He still had questioning expression on his face, but smartly decided not to comment on _that_ particular situation, and again, focus on the more important matter at hand. He turned back to face the headmaster - a smirk on Ozpin's face, for dust knows why - and started to speak.

"Well, the best course of action would probably be to," he took a deep breath and sighed, "stay here under your protection."

Ozpin smiled, no amusement hidden in it though, an actual, genuine smile, "I'm happy you decided that...and I believe someone else is happy about that too."

Huh?

His thoughts were _rudely_ interrupted by a bear crushing hug - one from the little Rose herself - as she screamed muffled cries of 'Thank you' or 'Awesome' and all the like. He cracked the slightest of smiles and gently returned the hug - albeit weakly, but he still returned it nontheless.

The headmaster took his coffee mug and cane in both hands, and made to walk to the door.

"Wait!" Jaune called out, just in time to stop Ozpin from walking through the door, "I just wanted to say...thanks...you know, for all this."

"Think nothing of it, Jaune. Just protecting one of my students is all."

* * *

The door closed and he internally breathed out a sigh - no matter how tough he acted, the headmaster _scared_ him, in more ways then one. It wasn't a misplaced fear, no. He just felt like he knew Ozpin's powers to an extent only few actually had encountered. He hadn't came across his actual strength though, it was just a hunch - and a cautious, but good one at that.

But that wasn't the whole problem here, the whole problem was that Ozpin was most likely not telling the truth. Though, you never were certain just exactly _what_ the man was thinking when you took a look at him. In that regard, it gave him conflicted feelings on the whole situation layed out in front of him.

On one hand, Ozpin could be telling the truth - it could really just be to protect one of his students. On the _other_ hand, it could be for his own personal gain as well.

Like a chessmaster toying with his pawns - he _did_ use chess pieces for relics during initiation after all, there had to be _some_ relevance between that and what Ozpin did in his free time.

He stared down at his hands, _but_ , he was going to have to trust him for now. He probably wouldn't be alive a few days from now if Ozpin wasn't going to give him somewhere to stay. So with great reluctance, he drifted back into slumber.

In what was now called his home.

* * *

The next few days passed like a blur - the occasional nurse's check-up here and there, talking to Ruby about all the littler things in life. With Ruby helping him on some schoolwork, even if she herself didn't know the material all that well, it was better then nothing.

He'd actually been seen out of the infirmary a few hours ago, and had to assure the nurses and Glynda that he would be okay to fight in combat class today. He needed to let off some steam - and what better way to do that then to one of the students that didn't know jack _shit_ about the world outside of school and it's stupid rules.

He was being unfair, he knew. What had the students - besides WBY and NPR - ever done to him?

Nothing.

He was just a bloodthirsty psychopathat times.

He pushed open the two doors to the combst arena, and was met with a wave of murmurs - some in awe, others in fear, even disgust. It wasn't really _new_ news that he had come back from hell on earth per se, they just didn't exactly know _where_ hell on earth was in the first place.

Though, the scars that scattered around his arms and legs gave away that 'hell on earth' wasn't exactly the best place in the world.

"...Jauney boy." he heard a voice call out from the middle of the arena.

Wait...did Cardin just call him out to go fight?

He did!

Oh ho, this would be fun.

He grinned maliciously and walked down to the center, eyeing the ever-so-cocky Cardin Winchester in all of his stupidity.

He tuned out the insults, those were unimportant right now - what he needed to decide was wether or not he would go in his grimm form against Cardin or not.

He gave Cardin another once over, and shook his head in sadistic mirth.

What was he thinking, of _course_ he would use his grimm form against Cardin - it _was_ Cardin after all. Not because he saw Cardin as a threat though, he was just pissed, and Cardin seemed like a could testing dummy.

How many hits would it take to break all of Cardin's bones?

"Are the combatants ready?" Glynda asked.

His grin stretched from ear to ear, while Cardin just stood lazily with the support of his mace.

"3

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...

...

2

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1

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BEGIN!"

* * *

 **AN: I know what you're thinking.**

 **"We waited this long on this piece of shit for a chapter?"**

 **And my only excuse is I'm having an off day, like, a very VERY off day.**

 **So to get this chapter out as fast as I could, I needed to rush through it so I could get out of my funk. So super sorry if this chapter isn't up to par with the last one, or any chapters from here on out.**

 **I might be starting yet ANOTHER story - this would actually give me an update schedule to work with, so that would be nice.**

 **On another note, 66 follows and 52 - or something - favs? Plus 13 reviews! Holy shit! One chapter and I got this much support! That's honestly breathtaking, and I promise to get better chapters then this shit out for you guys!**

 **Love it? Hate it? (I sure do) Leave a review!**

 **Cya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I DON'T OWN RWBY!**

 **I also don't own the backstory that made this story progress from the first chapter, that honor goes to Jauneforever's Precipe of Madness. With a little twist from me, of course.**

 **"In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take." -Unknown**

* * *

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking as bored as one could possibly be, his eyes seemed to hold that and only that emotion altogether. The boy opposite of him was...well...what the direction implied, exactly the opposite - in form, posture, mood, just about everything really. While Jaune made calm and calculated steps, his were more agressive, loud, with the accompanying clank of his metal armor.

Jaune had ditched his armor not too long after he had awoken; why would he need armor when he could literally make his own? He still used his weapon, he wasn't _that_ cocky. He knew for a fact that he needed his weapon for those dire occasions, one's that the grimm anatomy wouldn't help with.

He didn't bring his weapon to this fight because...it was looking completely one-sided from the beginning - the Winchester heir couldn't even place a single blow on Jaune, much less a multitude of shots at once. Every swing was always accompanied by a duck, sidestep, or roll from the blonde boy, which infuriated him to no end. If you could describe Cardin in one word - besides racist - it would be prideful, and the Arc was damn well flipping off his pride during is match.

Cardin swung his mace for an underhand sweep that Jaune skillfully jumped over, weaving through the air to dodge another follow-up swing; honestly, his moves were so predictable.

It was swing, miss, another swing, miss, and yet another swing, miss, repeat.

He sighed in boredom, he thought he would've gotten some fun out of this, but apparently his opponent broadcasted his moves for everyone to see. He couldn't even fathom how this piece of shit was able to beat him up in the first place - with relative ease, he might add.

Though, it didn't come off as _too_ much of a surprise, seeing as he _was_ one of the weakest students Beacon had to offer...seconded only by someone named Michael - who, wierdly enough, called himself 'Michael J. Caboose', which honestly didn't make sense to him.

But today was going to be different, he could already tell a lot of stares were directed at him in disbelief or awe, maybe even both at once for some people. Point is, today was the day people didn't remember him for his awkward attitude or his combat skills - well, lack thereof - or his inability to get a girlfriend, which quite frankly, was the leats important thing on his mind. His mouth - once etched into a thin line with boredom - soon grew into a devilish, maybe even a _sadistic_ smile.

His hands now finally out of their somewhat leather confinements, he let his feet plant themselves on the ground firmly, intent on becoming the equivalent of an unmoving wall. What was the saying?

When an unstoppable force meets and immovable object?

Though, in his mind, only the former applied in this situation. He looked at Cardin with a shit-eating grin, waving his hands in the air as if to say 'Come get me...bitch', which only served to anger the boy even further - going so much at to look practically seething. He hefted his mace up into the air, finger itching towards the trigger that caused explosions in his wake, and brought it down in an instant.

His mace seemed to collide with something, and he wasted no time with hesitation to pull the trigger multiple times and cause explosions to seemingly pepper his opponent. Smoke snake it's way onto the battlefield, obscuring everyone's view of the fight before them.

It was Cardin's turn to grin malicously, his mace had scored a direct hit with his gut - and even if it hadn't, the explosions would've been enough to bring his aura down to a good enough amount so it would be easy enough for Cardin to beat him to a pulp. He grimaced, he shouldn't be having this much trouble with a wimp like Jaune, it just wasn't possible, even so much as inconceivable in his eyes.

But that was what he was able to percieve.

In reality, Jaune had yanked his mace forward, jabbing a sharp knee into his gut, causing him to double over in pain and clutch his injured stomach. Jaune took a quick and subtle glance at the aura meters, and happily threw Cardin's mace aside when he found out that had only done about 10% to his aura reserves.

It gave him more time to beat him up.

He picked Cardin up by the arm and threw him into the air, rearing back and landing another devastating strike to the Winchester heir's stomach, returning the pain in full force two times over. He duly noted some of the students were inching backwards in fear, the few that didn't were Pyrhha - she was insitent on getting back his friendship, probably - and Ruby.

If there was anyone, it was Ruby who understood what he was going through, and he couldn't have asked for someone better. It was like her childish views of the world had vanished after she was attacked; probably due to the fact that she had experienced firsthand that the world wasn't as safe as it seemed. Even more so that she was faced with trauma none of the students had faced before, a near death experience.

Another quick glance at the aura bars displayed on the large TV screen above them, informed Jaune that Cardin was hovering _just_ above the 68 percent mark, sitting closely, about a pixel away at the 69 mark.

 _Heh, 69._ He snarked to himself.

Walking to the staggering form of his opponent, he deftly sidestepped a weak left hook, and ducked under a follow-up straight. He spun around and used his legs in a sweeping manuever, knocking Cardin off of his feet and giving him the oppurtunity to land a spinning back kick sqaure on his chest. Air was forced out of Cardin's lungs as he was sent flying back towards the wall behind him, dazed and confused.

Cardin forcefully stood back up, frantically searching for his mace once more, only to find it resting comfortably in the palm of Jaune's hand, said boy was twirling it around in his hand mockingly, one hand stuffed in his pocket with a devilish smirk on his face. He sweatdropped, there wasn't much he could do at the moment. His weapon was in the hands of his opponent, Jaune had gotten a _lot_ stronger then Cardin would've liked, and on top of that, he wasn't even able to land a single hit on him.

But...he wouldn't let this loser make a fool of _him_ , Cardin Winchester, heir to the house of Winchester and strongest compared to all of Beacon academy. Losing to Jaune would make him seem weak, and he sure as heel couldn't have that.

With a snarl he ran up to his opponent and launched a right hook, aimed towards his face with hasty perception, which Jaune was able to clearly see.

Okay, now Cardin was just making a fool of himself without even knowing, it was... _pathetic_ , really. His punches lacked everything but pride - for lack of better terms, they were weak, like he hadn't really had any hand-to-hand training prior. Like, Ruby, if he had to take a wild guess. Relying too much on his weapon like many hunters and huntresses seemed to do these days, which made him scoff.

Though, he shouldn't really be complaining right now...it was honestly amusing to watch.

He weaved through a series of weak jabs, stopping a - somewhat - powerful roundhouse kick from making an impact with his face using the back of his hand. Jaune threw the mace back at his opponent in amused pity, watching him scramble to pick up his weapon, holding back his laughter from echoing through the arena.

It was a bad idea, for any hunter worth their salt, they knew they shouldn't underestimate an enemy and give them back something that could potentially make or break a match - or in some cases, their lives. The only people who aactually did this, were fighters that had huge egos, and massive skills to back them up; or weaklings who did it to look cool.

Jaune definetly fell into the former.

He side-stepped a bulky mace swing coming overhead, watching as Cardin switched direction and swung sideways, aiming for his unprotected ribs. Jaune took a step back and let the mace fly by him, duly noting that Cardin had used the momentum to go for another overhead swing. He smirked as a thought came to mind, rolling forwards, dodging the attack while getting close to his opponent...

And punched him right in the sweet spot... _hard_.

He heard Cardin whimper and snickered, subtly looking around the stands and witnessing some students hold their baby makers as well, fearing for the safety of their most vulnerable body part. He watched, amused, as Cardin grabbed hold of his balls and fell to the ground, biting his lower lip and willing away tears. Though, he felt like this was overeacting - he'll admit, if someone punched him _very_ hard in the dick he would probably be in immense pain right now.

But Cardin was _crying;_ surely he didn't punch them _that_ hard...right? Not that he was complaining, the more pain he was able to dish out the merrier - it was just a bit of a cause for concern. If he had no idea how hard he punched, how would he be able to control his strength against the people that actually mattered to him, if he was pitted against them, that is.

Cardin shakily stood up still clutching his balls tightly with his left hand, his right occupied with the grip on his mace. His eyes screamed with pure and utter rage, his hate towards the blonde boy doubling, if not tripling from this one action alone. He looked at the aura meters for the first time in this match, and grimaced when he saw the 50% he had - most likely from both the hits he took, and reinforcing his swings with aura.

Moving his peripherals ever so slightly to the left, they soon widened when they came across the massive 100 percent of aura Jaune still contained - from getting peppered by explosions, to moving swiftly around a battlefield, and even landing hard blows, he had used 0% of his aura!?

He scowled, just how strong had the few months off made the scrawny boy!? Though he had to reluctantly admit, he wasn't exactly _scrawny_ anymore - hell, if he didn't have an inflated ego, he would say he was even more bulkier then him. He looked at the stands and growled with ferocity when he heard a few students snicker at his current predicament. He would show them! All those blows were nothing but lucky shots!

He ran towards him for the umpteenth time this match, mace below him poised for an upwards swing, which Jaune was - unsurprisingly - able to calculate with practiced ease. Moving back a single step and letting the air woosh atop him, fluttering his air while it did so.

It was the _same_ process. Stand, swing, get kicked down, but get back up again and repeat said process over and over. It was honestly getting a bit annoying this time around.

He sighed, then used the back of his palm to block an incoming strike from colliding with his face, watching as Cardin visibly struggled to move his mace even an inch forward. He pulled back angrily and struck again, but was met with the same opposition, the same hand, and what was the most infuriating of the three, the strength that surpassed his own.

Again.

And again.

And _again_.

You could see the looks of shock on his former friend's faces, wether it be awe, or fear, you could tell this wasn't the Jaune they had began to take a liking to - the goofy blonde that somehow always managed to make light of a dark situation, the one that could be friends with _anyone_ if not for his social awkwardness, and the one that was able to lead peacefully and with the least amount of violence possible.

 _This_ Jaune, was completely the opposite.

Cocky; with a smirk plastered on his face while he beat his opponent to the dirt. His intentions weren't friendly, far from it, they were with incentive to kill - albeit a little more reserved, but it still differed from how he used to fight. Heck, he couldn't even fight at all until now. Instead of going for the least amount of pain, he looked for a way to maximize it against his enemies, punching Cardin in the balls proved that even further.

He grabbed the mace after the...20'th-is time, and yanked it out of his hands, not too differently then at the beginning of the match. He turned it in his hand and activated the dust crystal within, expertly putting on pressure and compressing energy into one, final strike.

"I-I yield!" Cardin cried, shielding his face from the bright light that shone from his mace.

He smirked, before setting the mace's tip back on the ground. He grabbed the hilt with his second hand, and released the energy that had been fused together, swinging in a massive arc and knocking Cardin into the ground in an unconscious pile of limbs.

He duly noted that he was sent flying back by purple energy that surrounded him; if he remembered correctly, that was Glynda's semblance.

Said blonde sighed - she should've expected as much, from what Ozpin had said the boy had been through literal hell on earth. Still, that was no excuse for such conduct against his peers, especially violence like this. If he did this on his _first_ match back, she feared she would have to ban him from any other matches with students in the future.

"Mister Lark, take Mister Winchester to the infirmary, now." she commanded.

He obliged, scurrying down to the arena floor and heaving one of Cardin's heavy arms over his shoulders, walking off towards the infirmary while exchanging words of what was probably something horrible directed at Jaune, the person who caused all this in the first place.

"As for you," she turned on her heel and looked at the boy currently pinned to the wall, courtesy of her semblance. He looked a bit sheepish - despite his rather...eccentric display, he still had lots to fear, and a furious Glynda Goodwitch just happened to be one of those things.

"We're going to give you a fitting punishment."

Jaune gulped, and he only hoped Ruby prayed for his safety.

* * *

 **AN:Such a long delay, writing this while forcing myself awake by drinking sprite - which is why the ending is a bit rushed, but otherwise the fight scene was mediocre, in my eyes at least.**

 **Jaune didn't use his grimm form because...well...he isn't stupid, he wouldn't waste something that could potentially make or break people's viewpoints on him forever on someone like Cardin, it's just immoral.**

 **Don't worry, Jaune is definetly going to recieve fitting punishment, as am I, for getting this chapter out so late. Also, just a heads up, Short-Lived will not be getting updated anytime soon, the posting of the first chapter was only to get a general view on how it would progress later on.**

 **Honestly, I'm not used to writing this kind of Jaune, Heroes and Villains and Imitatio have personalities I'm comfortable with, while A Grimm Fate is still something I'm working on getting used to. So I'm sorry if this seems like filler.**

 **Again, Cardin will play roles later on.**

 **Love it? Hate it? (Again, I do) Leave a review!**

 **Cya!**


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